UKGPL Season 17 (2009) Novices Trophy - Watkins Glen (GP) - May 12

[miner2049er]

I felt great in qually and was 2 tenths off my PB but my race went from bad to worse.

Untidy, couldn't relax, wasn't fast, dropped it several times and retitred to avoid futher mayhem that seemed to hang around me.

Great result for Tim in 4th.

[vosblod]

Firstly congrats Fabio and rest of podium. With Fulvio in the Am's looks like an Italian wipeout 
Quallied 8th equalling my PB so happy with that. Very careful at the start and kept my position(ish), looked like we all had a good lap 1 to me.
After that Nicky got past me and procedeed to close on Fabio. I decided to hang back a bit and let them race - or was that because I couldn't close up 
After ten or so laps I struggled a bit with the Loop and they started to pull away - must have been my tyres or was it just my driving.
Anyway after that a tad lonely but no errors. Found Rog rejoining on lap 26 so got past him. He was then in my pipes until 28 when he wobbled at Big Bend - did keep as left as I could but no contact.
On the last lap I came up behind Glyn and broke into a sweat remembering my previous incident. Anyway Glyn kindly gave me lots of room - many thanks.
From then it was a straight run to the end and 4th - my best UKGPL result so far 

Bad luck to my team-mates Mike and Al who would probably have been in front of me had they not had bad hair days...

[Clutch4]

As others have said, this was a good fun race.
Qualified 4th, bit managed to grab 3rd off the line when the flag dropped. Managed to sneak past James Rye on the loop when he ran wide after a few laps (yes James..it was me.. not Nicky  ).
I managed to hold onto Roguk..just, but couldn't shake off James behind. I knew if i held my line it would be difficult for James to pass, but i snatched a break appraoching the S's at the end of the lap and ended up upside down in a ditch.
Did a Shift-R and took my stop/go, and tried to salvage what i could.

Pribluda made interesting reading throughout the race and it looked like the Top 5 kept losing time, switching positions and also a few people having spins?? (Thats guess work).

Well done to the Top 3. We've had a few different winners and podiums so far so the Championship is looking tight and could be a nail biter.

Also well done to everyone at T1. No crashes? Maybe we're all getting the hang of it.

One final thing.. How fast are those Ferrari's? They were like rockets going up the Hill. Needed the straight before the loop to be a few hundred meters longer for the slipstream to kick in.

Next stop Rouen. Love the track, even though i'm a bit dodgy there.

[NHance]

US of A, then its burgers for tea- didn't work!. I like the Glen, its like my wife, small, but perfectly formed. Glad her comparison isn't Nurburgring............ large, lumpy & difficult come to mind!.
Qually time was what I expected. Got me 12th. A few incidents to others got me up to 8th by the end of lap 4. This is heady stuff!. On lap 5 at the loop it all went wrong as I slid & got a tank slapper on. Maestro got through but Mike could not avoid me. Very sorry Mike. Had to shift R & it looked as though I was lapped but took an S&G on lap 6 anyway.
Now last of the runners in 15th place & it took me a lonely 12 laps to lap 18 to catch & pass Billy making me 14th. Once again incidents to those in front made it that I eventually ended up 11th.
I enjoyed this race too maybe 'cos I find the track a pleasure to drive, unlike some we have visited. Others seem to be improving so I'm going backwards, but so what I'm still enjoying it. I'll just have to try harder & learn more about set up as well.

Norm H

[JamesRye]

What does 'Pribluda' mean?

' (yes James..it was me.. not Nicky   ).'

whoops! you were pretty quick though, I was enjoying the fight.

Even with the slipstream I just couldn't get close enough to pass people and just tried to make a nusience of myself hoping for an error. I wonder what Roguk thought of my overtaking attempt? was it fair or not (I wasn't sure it was, so I took the Stop and Go). Was pleased for you that you won, congratulations because you drove under constant pressure all the way.

 Was my car still dissapearing or was it a bit better this time? Should have the hard connection sorted for the next one. A couple of times people fickered in front of me...but it seemed better.

Looking forward to Rouen, the great long straight there should be interesting because the slipstream will really be making a huge difference. We may see people easing off on the straight only to tuck right back into the slipstream for a re-pass.

Ryeman

 

[miner2049er]

I like the Glen, its like my wife, small, but perfectly formed. Glad her comparison isn't Nurburgring............ large, lumpy & difficult come to mind!.

Could be worse, it could be Monza (flat with a huge back section).

On lap 5 at the loop it all went wrong as I slid & got a tank slapper on. Maestro got through but Mike could not avoid me. Very sorry Mike.

I thought it was you but I haven't been brave enough to check the replay yet. I saw your slide developing and you were going outwards off the track but you seemed to suddenly switch back and come back across track.

I continued for half a lap but the engine was no longer pulling properly so I reset and continued. This was but one of the many disasters that caused me to retire in shame. No blame attached to you at all, just one of those things. I wasn't going to report it as it isn't something I would want you docked a place for and we were the only ones inconvenienced I think.

[Jack O'Ferrall]

Mike might have a tendency to romanticise the fair sex, I would have said that Monza was a flat fast loop, with an even faster inner loop with banking that has been condemned as unsuitable for motor racing...

There's a corner at Oulton... no matter.  I'm happy that there wasn't a vast pileup at the start.  However, its incident reports time, name the guilty men.

[bernie]

LOL

I'm sure we all know how Knickerbrook got its name 

As for my race , it had some high's and some lows . Unfortunately the high's were more to do with aerobatics than racing .

After being zapped from behind on L1,  I trundled back on track somewhere near the back of the queu of cars playing catch me if you can , by dint of some hairaising driving ( not neccesarily mine ) I managed to gain a few places and eventually caught up with the Ferrari of Stemmler, I then spent what seemed like half the race breathing his the exhaust fumes and after several failed attempts to pass I made a bansai run up the inside when he went a tad wide at the final turn , me on the grass all arms and elbows and thinking I'd blown it but I need not have worried as he had left me plenty of room to make the pass , Thanks my friend , it was good racing with you !

On my travels I had 2 other close encounters which I believe were not of my doing , both resulted in contact with the other drivers , but looking at my replay I dont see how I could have avoided the situation . Will leave it to the mods to judge on those.

All in all I enjoyed the race and feel like I'm getting somewhere at last rather than my going backwards with the 65 mod .

My feelings are that there is no way the Coop can cope with the BRM and Ferrari power on equal terms.

[NickyIckx]

 

First off all big hand to Fabio on his well deserved win. Brilliant drive !!!

And congratulations to the  real fast drivers:
Pole man  rogeruk , ryeman , c.clutch , mike , peter
And another big hand on Vosblods great 4th , nice one .

Well , what can I say ? such a lucky race to me it was.
Getting out 2nd  wow , sort of undeserved ,lol.

As I did said in chat during practise the connection quality was extreme worth to me . left red bar all up  suddenly  ,so often .
 results in extreme understeer. Guess that’s why my qualy time  was more then 0,5sec off the pace. And during race it was so hard to take care watching  those red bar standings to decide to push or not in the corners .
However , watching the replay , I did saved myself , … its flickering all over most off the time . no matter which car watching. Most worth is watching Ryemans car ; it suddenly disappeared totally  to came back suddenly on track parts of second later.
See note L26 above.  Attention please : its just a description off what I could see on my replay .Nothing else !
( to be honest , I am unsure on your wireless stuff is doing a good job Ryeman )



Race in short words :

<Start ; I could overtake Norbert , who`s engine wasn’t rev out at the moment green flags drop
  Lifted me up to 8th       
<L3 Peter lost control at the Loop . as well then Vosblod  being close behind.
  Lifted me up to 6th
<L4 Mike lost his car by fighting Fabio at the Loop
  Lifted me up to 5th  .
< L9 at the exit of the Bend  ,Clutch spins and rockets the wilderness
  Lifted me up to 4th  .   
<L4 to L20 I could follow Fabio closely . thx for tow.
<L26 at the entry to the Bend , on my replay , Rye`s car simply drove over R.UK65 , then disappeared    totally and then came back right hand   backside to the Ferri and chrashed him out.
   Lifted me up to 3rd
<L26 Ryeman do a stop and go in the pits
   Lifted me up to 2rd.
< L27 I am still outa slipstream area to leading Fabio . so I decided to take it easy and save my  lucky 2nd       position.
  Only payed attention on pribluda to guide Ryeman behind me
<L30 Mike hit into the Armco  , unluckily to Peter no yellow flags where up in time , so he hit terrible into Mike`s car.
<L 30 Baldwin gave me an thrilling overtake at the last turn

<L33 , I  passed the finish line with a big smile on my face.


 
thx all for great racing , hope to see ya all at Rouen

cheers



 

[il_lupo_mannaro]

My first UKGPL win!


OK, OK let's write some more words about it...

Qualify: I was expecting a better position on grid than the 6th one but you all drive very fast tonight, eleven racers within a second!! With my PB I would get only the 4th place.
@Ryeman: I really don't remember you dancing in my mirrors. Apologies when I blocked you in a fast lap.

Race: a good start (as usual I would say... ) and I'm 5th at first turn but... Mike was glued to my back for the first four lap but... at 5th lap he made a mistake and goes out at the Loop.

At same time I reached the4th position because Maestro made a mistake too.

Now I got Nicky *over* my shoulders: the big fight has begun 
I tell you the truth: I'm really not used to such close races and I was really scared to make a mistake but... I didnt!!

Lap after lap the pitboard told me he was still 1" back and I had still his noise on my ears.

When I was finally able to put more space in the middle of us, I made a small mistake at the 90, and he got closer again...
It lasted nearly 20 laps, with absolutely no time at all to rest or to look for some american beauty amongst the crowd...

On lap 26, when I was getting closer to the two leaders, Rog was out at Big Bend and James entered the pits, so I was the leader.

I'm really disappointed for them: I was just expecting a close battle in the last laps but... that's racing!!

Last seven laps were soooo long and I was expecting everything (one mistake, running out of fuel, disconnection, freeze, CTD).
According to my wildest dreams, four laps before the end, after the Esses I found a wrecked car and I avoided it for miracle and, last but not least, two laps before the end my daughter came in front of me to show me the dress she will wear next Sunday for a skating competition but... finally I saw the chequered flag as the winner (with second FL too)!!


Grats to eveybody raced and to all the UKGPL staff: au revoir in Rouen!

Long Live GPL!!

[Glyn Lloyd]

Well , my first race for a while that DIDN`T require a shift-R 

Quallified in P16  ( can`t accuse me of being too fast eh ? )
Fully expecting the normal Novices race pile up into T1 I took off easy...looked like everyone was gonna make it through the Esses unscathed....but no such luck ....halfway up the hill a Ferrari appeared out of right field  ( and I do mean right field)  from over  (or rather through) the fence to lob right behind Baldwin...the Fezza belonging to Stemmler,  Baldwin got a nudge that turned him around, Stemmler headed for the left armco..through it....through the fence...back again onto the track  ( via the same fence and armco)...NoBrakes took evasive action and spun...Poole also tried to evade but without any luck and also spun....I was next in line but got onto the middle pedal in time to almost stop  and without touching anyone....as the cars ahead parted I made my way through the mess to continue on my way, Stemmler and Poole had managed to get moving quickly and were just ahead me....NoBrakes not being so lucky was left behind still  mowing the grass !! 

From there on my `race` was a mainly good run...pacing along in P11 for the most part of the whole race......usually had someone reasonably close , either 1sec or so behind or in front of me  so not entirely a loney affair 

But...Murphies Law got into the act again and on lap7, heading for the Loop and being followed by Darwin  I took my normal brake point  and turn in point to the Loop...Darwin tried to squeeze through on my right as the `door` was closing...he mounted the kerb and grass only to bounce back onto the track and we collided side by side....he performed a very nice 360 deg. spin  as I was tossed across the track to end up in the ditch facing the wrong way !!!!    I was lucky however that I was able to drive out and resume without  the need for a shift-R...got going just as NoBrakes and M.James went by.....Poole had seen the accident and tried evasive action ( for the 2nd time) and again was again unseccessful and wound up turning turtle in the ditch.

Now down two places I got going hoping to pick up some scraps  ( crumbs) along the way...surely someone would be kind and fall over   

Well someone did and I got back up to P11 again.....but....

L30...exiting the Esses I came up fast upon M.James who had come to grief somehow...he had just done a shift-R which placed him on the left of the track..as I approached he drove to the right...probably to clear the race line ??  anyhoo...I had to zig left to avoid hitting him...this I managed and missed our wheels touching by two thickness of road dust   lol..but before i could zag right  I found myself in a wild side on slide on the grass at over 100mph...heading directly for a stationary Maestro !!!!   Holy Crappeth   
Somehow my little BT7 got some traction and steered itself past Maestro and back on track...PHEEEW !!!!  only me and the washing machine know how I felt  !!! ....in my delicate condition I can really do without a scare like that  hahahahahaha.....thank God for soft TP   

On the penultimat laps I had to slow to allow our illustrious leaders a clear passage....I think I managed that chore ok..however  on the final  lap I was being chased by Vos...who unbeknowns to me was just about leaving skid marks in his undies at the thought of having to pass this Geriatric GP Impersonator   ...so here I am yelling  ( rather loudly as my wife tells me later)  Vos  will ya fer Petes sake go past ...I gave as much room as I could but he was having kittens over it   lol...anyway he eventually took a chance and went by and I followed him over the line for the flag...

All in all not a bad race....began in P16 and made it up to P9   so that was good.....also a nice new PB  of 1:12.16   beating my previous PB done in the BT11  so again, a happy ending.
The BT7 is definately not the fastest car out there..nor am I the fastest driver...but together we managed to keep our lap times for the most part  in the 1:12s  and that I was also happy with 

Now onto to France for the next go....always like Rouen....a track that rewards good driving and bites bad drivers in the a$$     hahahahahaha

See you on the grid in Sunny France 


     

[bernie]

Server replay time: 0h08m53s

L7 Loop

Bernie attempted a pass on Glyn without having achieved any overlap and came off the kerb to take him out. This caused Graham to crash as well.

"Ridiculously" is just the name of the 2-place penalty, Bernie merely anticipated that Glyn would go wide, without having a reason for this belief.

Not on my replay mate , I had a clear overlap.  I took to the grass in an attempt to avoid Glynn who was heading for the same piece of track I was using . Nor did we actually touch , so think our old friend Mr Warp played a hand .

Can you please also find a better description for an attempted overtake rather than the "ridiculous" one you use to describe said manouvre !

Wher's the "COMPLETE BOLLOX" emoticon when you need it